Mo Farah admitted that winning the 10,000m final took more out of him than he anticipated, but he won’t allow it to stand in his way of a historic London 2012 campaign.
Britain's Mo Farah (C) competes in his men's 5000m round 1 heat during the London 2012 Olympic Games
Farah secured his place in Friday’s 5000m final after qualifying third in his heat in 13.26minutes to ensure his quest for a remarkable double gold haul remains on track.
And the world 5000m champion insisted he was just glad to get through the heat after a hectic few days since being crowned Olympic 10,000m champion on Saturday night.
“It was pretty difficult, I was a bit tired, that 10,000m final took a lot more out of me than I thought," he said.
“I’m happy with where I am now, I’ve got a couple of days to recover and then I’ll come back for the final. It’s nice to be through to the final.
“I’m going to go out there and give 110 per cent and that’s all you can do, it just depends on what my legs allow me. It would have been nice to run a lot slower than I ran in the heats but I just have to recover.”
Sarah Attar became the first female track and field athlete to represent Saudi Arabia at an Olympics when she competed in the women's 800 metres heats.
The 19-year-old, who wore a white head cover, a long sleeved green top and black leggings and sported luminous green running spikes, received a generous ovation from a capacity-crowd at the Olympic stadium as she trailed in last of the eight runners.
"It's an incredible experience," said Attar, who has dual United States citizenship and is a student at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles.
Attar, who clocked two minutes 44.95 seconds - over 43 seconds behind heat winner Janeth Jepkosgei Busienei of Kenya, is the second Saudi woman to compete at the Games following judoka Wojdan Ali Seraj Abdulrahim Shaherkani.
The International Olympic Committee had extended a special invitation to Shaherkani and Attar after it pressed Saudi Arabia to end its ban on female participation.
Some conservative Saudis had criticised their countrywomen's participation in London after Saudi Arabia broke with its practice of sending male-only teams to the world's biggest sports event.
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